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I pressed my nose against the cold glass and watched as the fields that used to be full of life and colour, with fresh green grass and huge sunflowers, turned into open brown spaces with nothing but mud hills and trenches.
We were miles away from civilisation, but the car’s wheels kept turning, taking us deeper and deeper into the void.
“Should we come in, Riley?”
I looked away from the window and into my uncle’s rearview mirror, where I saw him.
There was a hint of amusement on his face; he was enjoying my pain. I squinted and kept my lips straight so he wouldn’t be happy with my reaction.
But he thought my silence meant yes.
In just a few seconds, his finger had flipped the switch on his dashboard, and the car came to life, making loud siren sounds that shook my eardrums.
I looked away from his vibrating laughter and back at the road. This time, a steady blue light reflected off the dark tarmac floor. It followed us all the way to Bootcamp.
We saw a group of soldiers marching in a straight line as my uncle drove down a dirt road. There was not a single body out of place, not even a little bit. The pack stayed together and in line. I hid in the back seat of the patrol car, but my uncle slowed down on purpose so he could see me better.
“Jesus Riley, you really messed up this time. There’s no way you’re going to get out of this. You’ll be in jail in no time.” My uncle had no problem sharing his thoughts and doubts.
He pulled up next to two men. One of them was older, but you could tell that he was still in good shape.
The other person looked about my age, maybe a little older, but his whole body screamed that he was fit.
Both men wore the same thing: green camouflage pants, a tight green T-shirt and tan boots.
My uncle unlocked the door and opened it so I could go outside. I got up and stood there, staring at the older man who looked strong enough to be in charge.
“Riley Rivers, the newest member.” My uncle shook hands with both men.
The older man walked around me, looked me up and down, and then went back to the front.
His hair was short and grey, and he combed it back so that it stayed in place. His features were sharp, and his scowl looked like it would never go away.
His dark eyes made him look like he was in charge and powerful. His behaviour alone was likely enough to make grown men cry.
The younger guy didn’t move at all.
His eyes were looking straight ahead, and his hands were still tightly behind his back.
He was like a robot, and he was the most beautiful robot I had ever seen.
His jawline was sharp and his hair was light brown, almost blonde. The style was short and tight, with no hair out of place.
“Lieutenant Commander.” The older man pointed at the younger man, who didn’t move a muscle or even blink.
“Commander.” He pushed his strong, hard thumbs into his own chest.
His voice was deep and loud.
“Look down Rivers,” he yelled, spitting saliva as he spoke because he was so angry.
I looked down at my white trainers and saw that they had already picked up some dry dirt from the floor. I was annoyed and my mouth twitched. I sighed quietly so that neither man could hear me.
“Un-cuff her.” He spoke directly to my uncle, who finally turned the small key in the lock that held my wrists together and let go of my hand.
Of course, I held onto each of my wrists to get rid of the numbness that the heavy handcuffs caused and pulled my eyes back up to look at the commander.
“Eyes down Rivers!” he yelled, making my whole body jump.
I looked down right away.
“You must not look directly at any ranking officer unless you are told to do so.” He blew on a whistle, which made me want to look up again, but I fought the urge. “Lieutenant will show you to your home.”
“Okay,” I said to my shoes.
The commander let out a long sigh.
“Look at me, Rivers!” he yelled. I looked him in the eye. He had his four fingers on his forehead, like a salute. “Sir, yes, sir. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
I spoke without confidence, and his face got angrier with every second that passed. I swear the other guy had the tiniest twitch of amusement on his lips, but it went away just as quickly as it came.
“Sir,” I said nervously.
My uncle laughed next to me, and I shook my head.
“Yes, sir,” I said to myself.
The commander shook his head at me in frustration.
“Move out!” he yelled as he stepped back.
The younger guy, who I had convinced myself was a statue by this point, relaxed his stance a little and started walking away from the commander in a straight line.
I jogged a little to keep up with him as he walked ahead of me. I kept my head down, but that didn’t stop me from stealing glances at the beautiful statue.
His outside was very hard, and everything about him seemed impossible to get through and off limits. His eyes didn’t show any emotion, and his face was always blank and cold. His back was stiff and out of reach. There was no doubt that he was a robot.
He took me to a big wooden shed, but before we went inside, he turned over some charts that were stuck to a clipboard on the front of the building.
“Shower block,” he said softly, pointing with two strong fingers at a small brick building across the street.
“Your allocated time is at four hundred hours. You must only shower at the time your schedule allows because showers are shared on a rotation of living quarters.”
“Okay.” I said, not really paying attention. I’ve never been good at following the rules, which is why I went to boot camp. He hit the floor with his heavy tan boot and looked at me with eyes that made me feel like I was going to fall in love.
“Rivers, you just earned yourself five more laps around the track tomorrow. Stand up straight, look down, and show your Lieutenant some respect.”
His voice made me act right away. I remembered the dumb phrase I had to use to respond to the higher-ups.
“Yes, sir.”
“Cafeteria.” He pointed to a bigger brick building that wasn’t too far from the shower block.
I looked at it for a few seconds before lowering my eyes again.